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I'm not Morgan, and I'm not really into sharing what I keep in my pack/s but I am happy to offer a few recommendations as to what may be handy and what I like. I suppose this isn't the best thread for it, but I don't really think starting a "what's in your BOB" thread is something many would participate in. Or would they? What do I know, I have a pile of raw hamburg for a brain.

Moving on! For a pretty ruggedsmall assault/day pack, Amazon sells a Condor Assault Pack for ~$45 it's one of the many I've used, and abused. It's plenty rugged, but you'd be hard pressed to fit more than 2 days supplies in it. Best suited for a get-home bag or some variant thereof.

If you're into larger packs, albeit at the risk of getting expensive, Hazard4 makes some quality products. This includes their Day Pack but at the lofty $200 range I really can't say as any amount of quality makes me excited at spending $200. That's just me. You wouldn't be unhappy with any of their products, once you get past the price, that is. They make a myriad of other options that I find pretty brilliant though, such as their blood-type tags and sunglasses pod.

For other addon gear, Condor makes a quality hydration pouch (attaches to your pack easily) that has storage, allows a bladder and hose to be run through it, and is rugged. It holds a Camelbak Eddy bottle easily, but I suspect you could cram most Nalgene or other bottle-type canteens into it with ease. I like the fact that it offers a pocket to keep your water purification tabs in, if you're into that) as well. No need to recommend those tablets, as I assume if you're here you know what they are and why you want them.

Other things worth keeping in/on your pack IMO are Maxpedition organizers. Morgan states in the book that he's a gear-freak and loves Maxpedition gear. I've got no affiliation with any brands, but I do think they make a high end product. Their organizers are particularly handy. The EDC option is a great all around size to stow some small tools (modular screwdriver set, leatherman, flashlight, batteries, and first aid all fit in there at once easily). If nothing else, you can make yourself a small EDC kit to stow in your vehicle with the bare essentials. Handy. Quite handy.

Knives. These are so subjective that I can't get on a soapbox and say "this is what you want" or "this is why". Try a few cheap options in varying blade styles to see which blade style suits your hand best. On a personal note, I tend to always have two tanto-blades that are partially serrated. I find it offers me plenty of options/techniques as well as strength of the blade (ever snapped the tip off a drop-point?). Personally, I see no reason to spend $100+ on a knife, but that's just like...my opinion man. (reference anyone?) If you want a knife with lifetime guarantees and sheaths and accessories you should get one. Carry what works for you. I mean it. I have found plenty of lesser priced knives that I can buy a couple at a time. Admittedly, they are a 1-2 year knife and I'm ok with that. If your EDC includes a knife you should decide if a $20 Gerber or a $200 ESEE is your preference. Not that there aren't other options as well! Use your head. Carry what works for you.

Lights. Fenix and Streamlight both offer excellent options in many size options as well as battery options. I'm no expert on them, but a Streamlight Stylus Pro is just a bit longer than a pen and can light an entire room easily while running on two AAA batteries. I know heavy-duty mechanics that use these well past the point of torture-testing, and they stand the test of time. A great light, at a great price. Fenix also makes lights that would make your car's headlights jealous. They will cost a bit more--and to this point I haven't carried any long enough to comment on their toughness. I can only say that every ounce of the Fenix lights screams quality and durability.

What else goes in a pack? Well, you guys know. Aside from this thread approaching the size of the New Testament--I've tried to keep things brief. Here is a quick summary to finish this post off, and probably get me boo'd out of here:

food and water (mre or quickmeals that you *actually can eat*)
*Cliff bars
*Energy bars
*Potable Aqua tablets
*Electrolyte packets
*Jerky
*Oatmeal (or other lightweight easy to create foods)
*Mess kit if you have one (if you dont, you'll only be carrying prepacked ready to eats)

Electronics (that you can physically carry and might need)
*GPS (smart to keep in a watertight anti-static package)
*Spare batteries for everything that requires them
*Chemlights (aka glow-sticks)
*Headlamp! Having both hands free to use whilst doing things in the dark...priceless
*Cell phone if you have/want/need one
++ If you carry a phone, best to carry it in a toughbox/drycase/anti-static and get a spare juice pack for it!

I have to run, I'll come back and edit this as there's still more I'd like to add. Hopefully there's a few useful recommendations in here. Feel free to point out other ideas that should be in "Morgan's Pack" as the thread states. I sorta derailed it a bit...

Personally Ive done decent sized posts about gear enough to cover what I think of Condor and the items Ive had or seen.

I look at gear builders differently than gear collectors do. I look at it and think to myself, would I jump with this tied to me, or would I want this with me when Im in a bomb suit. Like will it survive what kills me? Because I tend to survive shit, and Ive come through things which were eventful, and gear that isnt on the other side of it with me when its over I might as well have not brought at all.

I spend money on a blade that isnt going to chew up my hands like the cheap folders almost always do. I spend on quality for most everything, Im a user, not a collector. If you buy for "Im probably never going to need this but if I do I got it" scenario, then I agree with your perspective.

I buy gear because I WILL use it. And having a pack looking good in the store doesnt help me when Im a long way from the road, every rock thorn and creature in az is trying to cut stab or eat me, and my gear is more problem than its worth because the strap pulled through the stitching or the bottom came out because it really wont carry 4 bladders and the rest of mission gear.

I dont have a get home bag with me most of the time, Im 5 miles from home at work. I can run it in less than an hour if Im not carrying a mountain of crap. I need my house key, maybe 2-3 bottles of water and Im hoofing it.

The rest you posted is a decent setup, AA is a decent writer, but I really dont think he put all of what he said Morg was carrying in a pack and walked it far. Still a good book.

Hopefully I didn't strongly convey the message of "I'm a collector, and if you are too you should get this gear that looks nice". I don't think that's necessarily the point you were making--but I sense from your tone that it crossed your mind in such a way. I was making an attempt at giving a fairly objective round up of some basic gear--while adding in some personal opinion as far as what I cared for or didn't care for.

Personally, I have put a fair amount of gear to the test and through the ringer--although I have never needed something to be with me in a bomb-suit I think there are plenty of practical situations that could be used to decide any piece of kit's value right? I'm personally into hunting, camping, hiking, and other loosely survival-based trips. Realistically, I don't think it's truly considered a survival situation if you've made a plan to go into the woods for X time with X gear and do your thing--so I can certainly understand your mentality of "will this actually hold up when I utterly need it to" rather than "will this last me a few years of rough hiking, or camping?". I'm with you.

Condor/Rotcho and other companies that make essentially the same copy-and-paste type of "tactical" and "survival" gear are not always a top choice, but I'd have to say that they certainly have their place. It's tough to relate every situation to one's experience in the armed forces (be it police, military, contract, etc.) seeing as how that's typically an incredibly intense point that can be subjective to each person--on top of that: the odds are good that a certain amount of the kit you'd carry in those situations is inherently gear you've been issued. There is a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips as far as police, military, and paramilitary gear that's been reviewed dozens (or more) times.

I was aiming to just throw some basics out there for people who may not be ready to delve into the depths of expensive and potentially more advanced kits. I suppose there are tons of places you could dig up information on all of these items as well, so maybe I was making a moot point in sharing experience with them.

The book series is great. Nice-reading novels that everyone can find at least something to relate to. In the first book, Morgan explains that he's a gear-freak and has way too much gear. He spends quite some time sorting everything he has in his car and deciding exactly what it is he wants to take with him. It wasn't an easy choice. I think the point of this wasn't to say that Morgan had everything he could ever need, as much as it was to illustrate that he was prepared--and that was the difference between him and the people he encountered along his way. Also, it's worth mentioning that there were things Morgan discarded as he went--or added as he found them. Just the typical stuff we all end up doing with our packs. Bug out bag, get home bag, hiking pack, hell anything! We find what works best for us, and use it. The things that do not stand out as useful, we tend to discard. I was simply trying to share some things that I have come across in my experiences that just might work for someone else.

Of course you're all free to make your own decisions, regardless of what I (or anyone else) recommend ;-)

Ok folks, here we go. This is the first post covering the contents of Morgan's pack.

It's been a long time in coming and there has certainly been a lot of talk about it, but now we're going to take a look at the contents of Morgan's pack as carried in Going Home. This will be a series of articles as one will not cover it all. I will go into detail about the equipment carried and why. This should be interesting as there has been a lot of talk about the contents of the pack. Additionally, I'll link to a thread on the forum where you can go and follow the discussion and comment.

Before we get started though I want to say something about the pack. The pack is real, as you'll see. The pack as about to be described is not for everyone, but it is for me for the scenario described in Going Home. I am a firm believer in the old adage of the more you know the less you need, you cannot loose, misplace or break knowledge. However, I also believe that having the proper equipment to ensure your survival is equally important. Certainly you can do without, but it is usually easier to have to proper item or tool for the task at hand. Take TP for a moment, you can use leaves, Mullien leaves are one of the finest of field expedient ass wipes, but isn't it easier to carry a small roll?

One of the most common things I hear about the bag is that it would be so heavy no one could carry it. I assure you that is far from the case. Is it heavy? Yes, but there are a number of variables that go into what is considered heavy. What is heavy to you or I may not be to someone else. In the book Morgan has a long walk ahead of him and he knows that he will be totally self reliant upon the pack. Sure he might find some supplies on the road, but he wasn't counting on it. This is one of the primary reasons Morgan set his daily distance goal so low, better to over achieve and gain the psychological boost it would give than to set the goal so high as to be unattainable and never be met.

Here is the pack all loaded up. The small bag beside the pack is the Maxpedition Devildog. This small bag was discontinued by Maxpedtion and the closest thing to it now is the Proteus. You can see the two quart GI canteen and the one quart, with cup and stove inside the cover. Inside the top flap is a 100oz water bladder.

In the top of the pic you can see the first aid kit, more on that later, below it is the Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus kit. This is a very handy piece of kit, capable of charging AA and AAA batteries as well cell phones and other electronics. Below and to the right of the Goad Zero is a Sweetwater hand filter. I prefer this filter over some of the others because the filter elements are housed in a plastic case. This makes them very robust, an important consideration when living out of a pack. Beside that is a REI 6X9 tarp with stakes and guy lines.

Next you can see the ENO bug net in its blue stuff sack. This is another great piece of gear, especially for someone living in the woods in Florida. The hammock is in the large green waterproof bag to the right. Also in the bag are two pair of pants, long sleeve shirt, socks and underwear and the hygiene kit. The next item is the Primus Multi Fuel EX stove and fuel bottle. A multi fuel stove in a situation such as Morgan faced would be huge benefit, being able to use nearly any sort of fuel you come across gives the stove a level of versatility hard to deny.

Lastly there is a green bag with its contents laid out, they are: a pair of EMT sheers, a film canister of cotton impregnated with Vaseline, a GI lensatic compass, a small pair of pruning sheers, a roll of heavy wax string, 100' of 550 cord, 2 MRE spoons, roll of trip wire, U dig it trowel and small cloth. The uses for these items are endless and many are obvious, only your imagination and needs will limit what can be done with these.

That's it for today, tomorrow we'll look into the side pouches of the bag.